What I think you’re missing,” the witness told Lord Leveson, “is that I’m a citizen of a free republic and, since 1922, I don’t have to pay attention to what a British judge orders me to do.” The speaker was Paul Staines, better known as the political blogger Guido Fawkes, and he was explaining that, as an Irish resident, he was not bound by court orders from London.

Two weeks ago lawyers representing a British celebrity got a similar response from Staines when they asked for the removal of an item from his blog.

For Staines, his Irish passport is not just a flag of convenience. His mother is from Finglas, while his wife, Orla, a solicitor, is from Laois. They have two daughters, Saoirse and Caoimhe, and live in Duncormick, in Co Wexford. Even though his blog is about Westminster politics, Staines flies to London only on Tuesdays and